Vipassana Meditation : Lectures On Insight Meditation by Venerable

Note mindfullyNote attentively and precisely.Superficial noting may make your mind more distracted.Note the present, live in the present.If you are looking for something while practicing, the mind will be in thefuture.The fundamental principle is to observe whatever arises at the verymoment it arises.'Labeling' is a friend of mindfulness when concentration is weak. If you donot label, you will tend to miss the object. Words are not essential but aresometimes helpful, especially in the beginning. Unless it becomes a hindrance,do not drop labeling.It is important to note precisely every mental and physical process - whichneed to be realized in their true nature.Sitting MeditationWhen sitting the body of the meditator should be balanced.Do not sit leaning against a wall or other support. This weakens right effort(samma-vayama) and you will feel sleepy.Sitting on raised and compressed cushions causes the body to bendforward. This will make you feel sleepy. Shariputra and Moggallana did notuse any cushion to meditate.Every sitting must be preceded by an hour of walking meditation (this maybe reduced when not in retreat and the time available is limited).When changing from walking to sitting practice, mindfulness andconcentration should not be disrupted.In the beginning of the practice, a beginner may be confused as to what tonote. The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw instructed that a yogi may startobserving the rising and falling movement of the abdomen, mentally noting'rising' when observing the outward movement and 'falling' when observing theinward movement.49